Numerous different web services exists that may be used for communication and content creation, storage and sharing. Various electronic devices, such as mobile phones, tables, set-top boxes and game consoles, allow users to enter and store their credentials (i.e. user ID and password) in order to access and use such web services.
In some cases, however, a user may want to access a web service from a device that does not belong to the user, or the user may want to allow someone else (a third party) to access the web service from a device owned by the third party. One example is the case where a user would like to show photos stored at an online service on a TV or similar device at a friend's home.
In such cases, it may not be desirable for the user that his credentials are entered through a device that does not belong to him, as the device (or software running on the device) may store the credentials and thereby allow continued access to the user's web service account. Furthermore, it may be desirable for the user to only provide access to a selection of content or data from his web service (e.g. recent holiday photos) while keeping other content or data (e.g. work related data) private.
There may thus be a need for a way of authorizing a third party device to access data associated with a user account without the above described drawbacks associated with disclosure of user credentials.